RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Do you want to see your volunteer team more excited, engaged and enthused about the ministry?  Do you want to motivate your volunteers to a higher level?

As a leader, inspiring your volunteers is one of the most important things you can strive for.  Here are 5 steps that can help you inspire them.

Present an inspiring vision.  If you want your volunteers to be inspired, then you have to give them a reason to be inspired.  If you want them to follow you, then you have to present a compelling destination.  The vision should inspire them to reach for something that is bigger than they could have imagined on their own.   

But remember, before you can inspire your volunteers, you must first be inspired.  You must have a vision that causes you to get up the morning excited about what is ahead.  Inspiration can't be taught...it must be caught.

Think through these questions...

• Do I have an inspiring vision for the ministry? 
• Have I clearly articulated the vision to my volunteers?
• Can my volunteers sense that I am excited about the vision?

Connect your volunteers to the vision.  The next step is to connect your volunteers to the vision.  This involves helping volunteers see how the vision gives them the personal opportunity to grow, make an impact and leave a legacy.  Show volunteers how they can use their gifts and talents to help the vision become a reality.

When volunteers see the vision is grounded in the desire to benefit everyone, rather than just the leader, you will get buy in.

Think through these questions...

• How can I help my volunteers see how the vision will benefit them?
• How can I help my volunteers see how the vision will benefit others?
• How can I help volunteers see how they can use their gifts and talents to help the vision become reality?

Move toward the vision together.  Inspiration without action is like riding in one of those toy, stationary cars you find in front of a grocery store.  There's a lot of noise, but you don't actually go anywhere.  Provide steps that will take you to the vision.  Having these steps in place will give your volunteers wins along the way that will keep them inspired.

Think through these questions...

• What are the clear steps we need to put in place that can help us see the vision fulfilled?
• How can I clearly communicate the steps to the team?
• How can I help the team own the steps and achieve the steps?
  

Encourage and support your volunteers.  Have you ever had a puncture in your car tire that caused it to go flat?  If you want to keep moving forward, you have to get the hole fixed, don't you?  It's the same way with inspiration.  There will be set backs, failures, challenges and "flat tires" along the way.  Be there to "fix the flat" through encouragement and support.  When your volunteers know you've got their back and will be there for them, they will be inspired to keep going, even when they fail.

Think through these questions...

• Do I encourage my volunteers with my words and actions?
• Do my volunteers know I've got their back?
• Are there any "flat tires" right now that need repaired?

Remember inspiration must be ongoing.  Inspiration is not a one and done event.  Inspiration must be sustained.  The initial inspiration must be reinforced along the way.  Inspiration is like a fire.  A fire's natural tendency is to burn out.  It has to be sustained by adding wood, doesn't it?  It's the same way with inspiration.  You must keep it stocked.  This is done by taking people back to the vision on a regular basis.

As the leader, your continued dedication to the vision, hard work on the steps to get there and tenacity will help keep the inspiration alive.  Abraham Lincoln said, "Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.”

Think through these questions...

• How will I sustain the inspiration?
• How can I be an inspiring example to my team?
• How often should I revisit the initial source of the inspiration?

Walt Disney was a master at inspiring his team.  Here's an excerpt from the book If Disney Ran Your Children's Ministry about how he inspired them to move forward with building Disneyland.
“As he stood before the board, he admitted that it was hard for them to envision Disneyland the way he could, but he assured them, ‘There’s nothing like it in the world. I know because I’ve looked.  That’s why it can be great: because it will be unique.  A new concept in entertainment, and I think...I know...it can be a success.’ When he finished there were tears in his eyes.  The members of the board were persuaded.”

Your turn. The floor is yours.  How do you inspire your volunteers?  Share your thoughts and ideas in the comment section below.

Have you lost your love for children's ministry?  Just going through the motions?

What used to be a delight is now a drudgery?  What used to be an inspiration is now uninspiring?  What used to exciting is now exhausting? 

Now's not the time to quit!  Here's how to fall back in love with the ministry God has called you to.

Acknowledge it.  We all fall into ruts at times.  The first step to getting out of the rut is to admit you're in it.   

Make a list of what brought you joy in the past.  Was it the joy of simply serving others?  Seeing the kids "get it" as you taught them?  Knowing you were making an impact in a kid's life?  The smile of a child as they ran toward you...calling your name?  Seeing a child step across the line of faith?  Seeing kids growing in their faith?

Just taking time to make this list will stir your love for children's ministry.

Make sure you're doing what you love.  Did you get placed in a new role that doesn't fit your gift mix?  Did you step into a leadership role, but miss working directly with the kids?  When you're in your sweet spot, the natural result will be to love what you're doing.  If you're NOT in your sweet spot, it will eventually become drudgery.

Challenge yourself.  Perhaps the opposite is true.  Perhaps you've been in your current role for a long time and you need a new challenge.  Maybe you've been helping and you're ready to step up and teach.  Maybe you've been leading a group of kids, but God is nudging you to step up and lead the volunteers who lead the kids.  Maybe you've been overseeing a nursery room, but now God is nudging you to oversee the entire nursery hallway.

Your waning love for what you're currently doing could be God prompting you to do even more for Him.

Hang around new volunteers and other passionate people.  New volunteers can breathe the energy and excitement you felt when you first started serving back into your life.  Find people who are passionate about children's ministry and hang around them.  They will reignite your passion. 

The natural tendency of a fire is to go out.  You have to stir it and add wood if you want to keep it burning.  Don't let your love for children's ministry go out.  Stir it up!  Add some wood to it!  Keep it burning bright!

Give families the opportunity to make memories together.  What event or experience can you create for families to make memories together?

Make check-in easy for families.  This is their new check-in system.  No more turnstiles.  Just swipe your ticket across the mouse ears, place your finger on the indicated spot, and you're in.  How can you make your check-in for families easier and faster?

Use creative thinking to turn ordinary items into fun.  This is a computer screen.  They encased it to look like an old storybook.  Take a look at the ordinary items in your ministry.  How can you put a fun twist on some of them?

Provide good signage.  Look through the eyes of a guest family.  Make it easy for them to identify areas.

You've got ideas you've been waiting to try.  What are you waiting for?  Go for it.

Be committed to excellence.  Families are drawn to excellence.

Effective ministry requires effective planning and organization.

Make your ministry a fun place to be...for kids, families, and your volunteers.  If you hear laughter and see smiles, you're on the right track.

It takes a team to reach families.   It's not what you can do, it's what you can empower others to do.  The most important thing you can do is build a strong volunteer team.

It's all the small things that add up to make a big impact.  This painting on the street was done with a broom and water by a Disney cast member who was simply sweeping the street.  What are some small touches you can add that will make a big impact?

Your turn?  What are some ideas you've gotten from Disney that can help us reach kids and families? Please share them with us in the comment section below.

Have you ever been around an inspiring leader?  After talking with them or listening to them, you were ready to go conquer any mountain.

As a children's ministry leader, it's vital that you have the ability to inspire others.

When we talk about being "inspiring" you may be thinking it has to be someone who is extremely gifted, has a charismatic personality, is a people magnet or can give dynamic, soul-stirring speeches.

If that's not you, don't worry.  That's not what being inspiring is really all about anyways.  Anyone can be inspiring if they take the right steps and work at it.

Here's 10 key steps you can take to become an inspiring children's ministry leader.

Inspiring leaders collaborate.
Do you want to inspire people?  Then include them.  Inspiring leaders don't bark down orders.  They gather people and create something together.  When people have a part in creating something instead of just being handed something, they are inspired.

Inspiring leaders develop people.
When you are intentional about pouring into people...when people know you are committed to helping them become a better person and leader...when you call people up instead of calling them out...it inspires them.  They will be drawn to you. 

Inspiring leaders empower people and then get out of the way.
Inspiring leadership and micromanaging aren't compatible.  Inspiring leaders empower people and then give them room to lead, fail, and learn from their failures.

Inspiring leaders ask the right questions.
You don't always need to have the best answer.  Just learn to ask the right questions to draw out the best answer from the team.  Lead with questions just as much or more than you do with answers.

Inspiring leaders admit their mistakes.
Be quick to admit your mistakes.  Be the first one to apologize.  Humility and transparency inspires others.

Inspiring leaders lead by example.
Go the second mile and when you ask your team to go the second mile, go the third mile.  Inspiration is caught by example more than it is taught by words.

Inspiring leaders build relationships.
Inspiring leaders don't lead by title or position...they lead by relationships.  Love people for who they are instead of for what they can do.  When people know you really care about them, their hearts will be drawn to you.  Inspiration is created through relationship.

Inspiring leaders give away the credit for wins and take the blame for failures.
It inspires people when you put them in the spotlight instead of yourself.  It also inspires people when they know you've got their back and when something goes wrong, you take the ultimate responsibility. 

Inspiring leaders continually fill people's vision tank.
Constantly share the "why" of what your team does.  Realize that vision leaks, so keep the vision front and center.  And you don't have to be an "inspirational" speaker to do this.  This is done just as effectively in small gatherings or individually. 

Inspiring leaders are faithful.
There is something about long term faithfulness that inspires people.  You will find the longer you are in ministry, the more inspiration potential you will have.  Time and experience are two of your best inspiration allies.  Stay the course. 

What are some other traits of inspiring leaders?
What are some traits in leaders that have personally inspired you?

Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.

Do you have ideas for 2013 in your head?  Here's 4 easy steps to make them a reality.

Store them.
When you have an idea pop in your head, write it down.  Keep your ideas in a folder.

Stack them.
Stack them according to priority.  

Start one.  
After you've prioritized your ideas, take the first one and start it.  For it to become a reality, you've got to take the first step. 

Stay at it.
Perspiration must follow inspiration.  See it through to completion.  Once it's done, jump on the next idea on your list.  One by one, watch your ideas become reality in 2013.